The genius that was Sir PTerry Pratchett (GNU) had a lot to say about beginnings. One being that what we see as a beginning is often the result of many things that came before. As he opened Lords and Ladies:
“The curtain goes up, the first pawn moves, the first shot is fired* – but that’s not the start. The play, the game, the war is just a little window on a ribbon of events that may extend back thousands of years. The point is, there’s always something before. It’s always a case of Now Read On.”
I choose that not only because Lords and Ladies is one of my all-time favourite Discworld novels (heck, all-time favourite novel), but because it holds equally true for genealogists. Family history is, for me, the ultimate in Now Read On, any person is just one stitch on that ribbon. I have kind of covered this topic before, in a 52 Ancestors post from 2021 (one of my less productive years – managing just five 52 Ancestors posts … see also 2023 where I managed four!).
However, this particular New Year is not off to its most auspicious start. Yesterday I came down with some kind of unpleasant bug. And I also forgot to move some pots around in the garden over the Christmas period and we had a particularly nasty little frost last night so I had to do some re-arranging this morning to hopefully stave off the worst of the damage.
But I am hopeful that I will see this as new beginning to get back into doing some research and some blogging. It does my brain some good to switch from the emotional rigours of the counselling course I’m doing at the moment. Officially I think they term it ‘self care’…
Nothing to profound here as yet. I have a whole year for that, so I will leave you with one thing:
Now Read On …
*Usually at the first pawn.
The Family Mess 
Here’s to “new” beginnings and off we go! Good luck with the 52 Ancestors challenge. I’ll be cheering you on from across the pond.
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Haha I’ll need a kick up the bum every so often, I’m sure!!
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Good to see that you are back writing again. I intended to start this year too but have already missed one. As someone said, life is what happens while we are making plans.
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You can pick up 52 Ancestors whenever you like. You can dip in and out as you feel like it. If you have nothing to write about one week then … don’t! Or do two in one week – nobody is policing your output. You do whatever feels right to you!
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Thanks. I have officially retired now so should have more time. Another mystery has surfaced though. I got a message from Ancestry about the 1921 Census so looked up my grandfather but couldn’t find him in 1921! Not in Yorkshire anyway. Might have to look further afield. His father worked as a fettler on the railways and his sons were all born in different places.
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The 1921 census transcription (mostly done via AI) is phenomenally bad with spelling. Try doing a very wide search with the surname!
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I know my grandfather didn’t have to go to WW1 as he had already lost 2 brothers. I also have a photo of him with Laughton United Football Club which was in 1927 and I also found an electoral roll with him at Dinnington from memory but nothing yet in 1921. Oh well, another mystery to solve.
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